Magic Belles Magic Music Review

I am a huge fan of the Magic Belles. I have had the pleasure of working with them on a baking project in the past and my girls are members of their Flutterby club, so when I was asked to review their new CD, Magic Music, how could I refuse.

This lovely CD consists of 7 songs :

1. Magic Symphony

2. Dreams Come True

3. The Rainbow Song

4. Bake It, Shake It

5. The Pom-Pom Dance

6. How Does Your Garden Grow?

7. Twinkle Twinkle

Doc McStuffin and Sofia the First CDs Review

My girls are huge fans of the channel Disney Junior on the TV and they are even bigger fans of the newest programmes to be broadcast on the channel, Doc McStuffin and Sofia the First.

I was asked to review the soundtrack CDs that accompany these TV programmes and there was no way the girls were going to let me turn down this opportunity.

So let me tell you a little bit about the programmes, just incase you haven't had the chance to watch them yet, yes I watch them too!! :)

Doc Mcstuffin follows a 6 year old girl named Dottie McStuffin, she wants to become a doctor like her mum, so pretends to fix up dolls, toys etc. When she puts on her stethoscope all the toys magically come alive and she is able to communicate with them. She has her trusty stuffed animal friends, lambie, stuffie, hallie and chilly. Each episode gives advice to your children about staying healthy, helped along with catchy songs.

Sofia the First follows Sofia, who after her mum marries the king, is whisked off to the castle where she learns to be a real princess.

Classic princesses such as Cinderella make appearances to give words of wisdom as Sofia learns lessons about kindness, forgiveness, generosity and self respect.

And of course some beautifully worded songs help relay these messages.

These CDs are a great edition to any little girls CD collection.

There are 26 songs on the Doc McStuffin CD. All the songs are quite short which makes for easy listening and you will recognise them all from the TV series, especially the well known time for your check up

All very upbeat and catchy, you can't help but know the words and sing along.

I asked the girls their favourite songs on the Doc Mcstuffin soundtrack :

Elise said : a lambie like you

Freya said : everyone gets hurt sometimes

Gracie : be good to your tummy

The songs help relay messages of being healthy and looking after yourself and others but in a way that is fun to children.

There are 13 songs on the Sofia the FIrst CD, this includes 2 bonus tracks. Starting with the theme tune, you are immediately made to get up and dance. The girls loved singing along to their favourite songs and it made them remember watching certain episodes of the programme. The series itself is aimed at 2-7 year olds and I would say the CD is aimed at the same age range. I wouldn't say it is just for girls because my almost 2 year old nephew loves to watch Princess Sofia.

When asked for their favourite songs on the Sofia the First soundtrack :

Elise said : true sisters

Freya said : princess things

Gracie said : Sofia the First theme tune

The CDs themselves were even made to look good, bright purple for Sofia and the Doc McStuffin one was designed with plasters all over it.

The booklets inside that tell you about each song have beautiful pictures of the characters from the television programmes,

I would recommend these CDs to anyone, even if you haven't watched the programmes before.

The songs managed to keep my children entertained for hours and they were all singing along to them together, they actually managed a couple of hours without arguing with each other!!

Disney have yet again produced enjoyable CDs that are fun for anyone who listens to them.

I will admit that even I know a few of the songs and yes I do sing along to them.

You can't tell me you haven't found yourself singing along to your childrens TV programmes/CDs before??

xxxx

Disclaimer : These CDs were sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.

AudioGO Audiobooks Review

As a child I remember listening to stories at bedtime, you know, when we used tapes instead of CDs. One memory always springs to mind, of when you came to the end of one side of the tape, there would be someone telling you to "please turn over".

I always found having audio stories on a good way to relax and drift off to sleep and my children are no different, their collection of CDs is steadily building with a mixture of musical ones and story ones.

When I was asked by the lovely people at AudioGO if I would like to review a selection of the audiobooks, I was more than happy to oblige.

AudiGO themselves are the UK's leading audiobook publisher and retailer and they were formally known as BBC Audiobooks. Their expanding range extends to over 10,000 titles including complete and unabridged audiobooks, which includes many children's titles, all of which can be bought in CD or downloadable form and they also produce many large print books.

I was asked to pick a couple of titles from their range but I declined and said I would much prefer a surprise and I couldn't have been more happy with what they chose for myself and the kids to review.

I received :

Mr Men Stories Volume 2 - Written by Roger Hargreaves - Read by Arthur Lowe

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Written by Lewis Carroll - Read by Gemma Arterton

The Secret Garden - Written by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Read by Jenna-Louise Coleman

The girls were just as thrilled with what arrived in the post for them. Each CD is roughly an hour long, this I think is just long enough. The girls have fallen asleep listening to these which I have to assume means that they manage to relax them!! These have been especially great for my 3 year old because her sister's will always sit and read a book when in bed but Gracie is still a tad too young to know how to read, so listening to these CDs was something that kept her included.

The stories were perfectly narrated, clearly spoken yet the change in tone of voice etc kept the children engaged, you really felt the emotions of the characters. And unlike when books are turned into TV programmes, the stories on the CDs are true to the originals.

Weirdly I used to have The Secret Garden on cassette and it has always been my favourite story so I was keen to see what this newest version was like. Jenna-Louise Coleman really made the story come alive in my opinion and it was nice being able to share something from my childhood with my daughters. My eldest daughter is now keen to read the book to see how they compare.

The Mr Men stories were as wonderful as ever, again something I associate with my childhood. I found the girls laughing through it quite a lot of the CD, lovely to hear and very entertaining. This was Gracies' favourite out of the three. And the good thing about this one is that there are six different stories on there so you can listen to something different each time you pop it on.

We listened to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland last. Of course the kids and I have read the book together and watched the DVD (good old Disney), so to hear it instead of see it made it for an interesting listen. Again a job very well done, it was another classic bought to life and Gemma Arterton seemed to add a touch of class to it.

I think sometimes hearing a book is better than reading it because I don't know about you but I don't always know how to pronounce certain names and sometimes you misjudge what emotions a book is trying to convey when reading the words on paper. 

Each of these CDs can be bought for £5.99 or you can download them which costs £1.49, either way both are fair prices in my opinion for the amount of times these stories will get listened to. And lets be honest you don't just have to listen to them at bed time. I think it is much better to pop something like this on in the afternoon than sit and watch programmes on the television.

xxxx

Disclaimer : these cds were sent to me free of charge for reviewing purposes however all thoughts and opinions are my own.